Beanie Wells Injury: Arizona Cardinals' Season Doomed with Star RB Hurt Again

The 2011 NFL season has been a disaster for the Arizona Cardinals, and a sprain in the right knee of running back Beanie Wells serves as the latest bit of evidence to support that claim.

Wells left in the second quarter of the Cards' 32-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday after notching just 42 yards on 12 carries.

The third-year back out of Ohio State had been enjoying perhaps the best campaign of his young career, with 381 yards and six touchdowns through his first four games and enough yardage against the Steelers to surpass his production from all of last season.

This marks the second time this season that Wells has missed time with an injury. He sat out Arizona's loss to the Seahawks in Week 3 with a hamstring strain and battled his body all of last season.

Wells' health isn't the only thing that's dragged the Cards down this season, though it certainly hasn't helped.

New quarterback Kevin Kolb, who the team acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason in exchange for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round pick, has been underwhelming under center, to say the least. Kolb performed well against Pittsburgh, throwing for 272 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, but he's still thrown as many picks as scoring passes and has completed less than 60 percent of his throws.

Meanwhile, Arizona's defensive secondary has suffered without DRC. The unit came into the weekend ranked 20th in the NFL in passing yards and has recorded just 11 sacks.

Chances are Ben Roethlisberger's 340-yard, three-touchdown performance isn't going to help those numbers any.

The Cards were hoping for a big bounce-back season in 2011 after falling to 5-11 in 2010 on the heels of Kurt Warner's retirement and the departures of Karlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle.

The thinking around the desert seemed to be that Kolb and a healthy Wells would lead Arizona back to being one of the league's most exciting offenses, while rookie corner Patrick Peterson would spark the defense back to life.

Neither scenario has quite worked out, leaving head coach Ken Whisenhunt on the hot seat, barely two years removed from back-to-back NFC West division titles.

In the meantime, Wells' injury leaves the Cards woefully thin at running back, especially after losing rookie Ryan Williams before the season even began.

Second-year ball-carrier Alfonso Smith picked up 17 yards and a touchdown on five carries in Wells' absence. It was respectable, to be sure, but not exactly the level of production that Whisenhunt needs out of his backfield.

The Cards, losers of their last five games and now without Beanie Wells, will try to keep their skid from extending to six with a trip to Baltimore next Sunday.

Or, rather, they'll try to avoid a seventh defeat in a row at home against the Rams in Week 9.

---

LIFE HURTS. THIS INJURY UPDATE BROUGHT TO YOU BY DICKIES.